Mid-America Union Elects Communication Director

During its regularly scheduled Nov. 14 meeting, the Mid-America Union Conference Executive Committee elected Brenda Dickerson to serve as OUTLOOK editor and communication director for the MAUC. Dickerson has been functioning as interim director since May 2013 when former director Martin Weber retired.

For two years previous, Dickerson was assistant communication director and managing editor for OUTLOOK magazine. Before joining the union team, she worked as a freelance writer and editor with various organizations, including the North American Division, Union College and AdventSource. Dickerson is a Union College graduate with a degree in English and emphases in writing, communication and art.

Thomas L. Lemon, president of the Mid-America Union, said, “Whenever a leadership position comes open, one knows instinctively that the future will be different from the past. Among the questions to be answered are: How much and what kind of difference do we want? How can the needs of the MAUC best be served? Our highest priority in communication leadership is for spiritual depth and technical skills. As we looked over the division, we believe that our own interim director fits that priority exactly. We have been pleased with the product Brenda and her assistant, Randy Harmdierks, turn out every month in OUTLOOK magazine, as well as the union web pages. And we are excited by the new ideas she has for the future.”

Ryan Teller, MAUC communication director from 2002-2005 and currently director of public relations for Union College, said, “”Brenda has shown outstanding leadership as she has helped mold and adapt OUTLOOK magazine and Outlookmag.org to be great resources for the people of Mid-America. I appreciate her dedication to consistently improving the communication efforts of our church and to telling the stories of Adventism.”

Dickerson said she is looking forward to the opportunity of regularly communicating with the 66,000 Adventists in the nine-state territory. “It’s a great privilege to serve in this capacity—both the members of our church and the larger audience we reach online,” said Dickerson. “In our current environment of information overload, I want to help people focus on things that are important and can have a positive impact in their lives.”

Dickerson is the 11th editor of OUTLOOK since the magazine was launched in 1911.